Have you seen Chef Lynn’s Show “Pitchin’ In” ? If you have not – it is a must see. The premise behind the show is that Chef Lynn travels the States and Canada, seeking out local farmers of all kinds, fishermen, shell fish harvesters, cattle ranchers, Poultry farmers – you name it – with the endeavor of learning their trade in exchange for a fabulously cooked meal using their local ingredients. She is down to earth, hilarious, and manages to get herself neck deep in trouble!

By the way, a most wonderful cook book you can check out here – well worth it.

I love Chef Lynn…shhhh please don’t tell Jamie – I love him too but don’t want to get his wee nose out of joint. There will be a few of his recipes coming soon….

Seriously though, Chef Lynn’s food looks mouth watering delicious. Honestly, everything I have seen her cook, leaves me drooling. Then tonight I made her recipe Turkey Casserole with Biscuits. I did not have Turkey, so used Chicken Thighs. Now the next best thing in the whole, wide, wide world: Honest to Goodness Gluten Free Biscuits. Mama! I am in heaven! These biscuits may not look like much – but they tasted like the real thing….friggin’ amazing!

These biscuits tasted like their gluten filled cousins…seriously. The texture was perfect. I can’t wait to bake these on their own. I knew this biscuit recipe was either gonna be wonderful….or not. Every once in a while I hit a winning gluten free recipe and this one meets the expectation…to follow.

CHICKEN CASSEROLE:

6 skinless, boneless chicken thighs

3 1/2 cups chicken stock

1 Bay Leaf

1/2 of an onion cut in half

handful of Fresh Italian Flat Leaf Parsley, stems included

4 Fresh minced Sage Leaves

salt and pepper

Add everything to a medium sauce pan, lid on, bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer. Simmer 25 minutes then remove from the heat, and remove the chicken to a plate, then strain the liquid into a bowl and reserve. Discard the extra vegetables.

1 Tblsp. butter, 1 Tblsp. Olive Oil

3 carrots, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces

1 celery stalk, halved and diced

1 onion, minced

3 minced garlic cloves

4 medium sized Crimini mushrooms, roughly chopped

3 Tblsp. Fresh Flat Leaf Italian Parsley, minced

1 cup of frozen Peas

salt and pepper to taste

Cornstarch and chicken stock to make a slurry

Here are some of the veggies:

Heat up a medium saucepan on medium high heat with the olive oil and butter. Add the mushrooms to the pan and saute until golden. Then add in the chopped onions, garlic, celery and carrots, season with salt and pepper.

Saute for five minutes, then pour in the chicken stock, reserving enough to make a cornstarch slurry.

Put the lid on and bring to a simmer, and cook for 15 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Check for seasonings.

Meanwhile, once the chicken has cooled, shred into good sized pieces and set aside.

Next step:

GLUTEN FREE BISCUITS:

1 cup Brown Rice flour

1/2 cup Tapioca Starch

1/2 cup Cornstarch

1 Tblsp. Baking Powder

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1 tsp. salt

1 rounded tsp. Xanthan gum

3/4 cup Milk – I used Kefir Milk, if you can tolerate Buttermilk that would be good too – or use your favorite milk

1/2 cup cold butter

1 1/2 Tblsp. dried chives

3 Tblsp. grated Aged Cheddar cheese

Sweet Rice Flour

In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients, including the chives, whisking well to combine. Add the butter and using your hands, combine, rubbing in the butter until it forms large pea size shapes. Add the milk and the cheese, mixing to combine.

This mixture is very forgiving. Sprinkle your board with a light dusting of Sweet Rice Flour. Turn the dough onto the board. I started to roll, which did not really work, so instead, I just used my hands to press out a general shape, 1/2 inch thick. Then I used a plastic cup, a good 2 inches wide, to cut out the biscuit shapes. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

NEXT STEP:

Once the vegetables are tender, add in the shredded chicken, minced Parsley and frozen peas. Bring to a simmer and thicken with the Corn Starch slurry. You will want a fairly thick gravy. Then transfer the chicken veggie gravy to a 9×11 casserole dish.

Place the biscuits on top of the chicken casserole, can you see how soft the dough looks? It reminds me of the real “gluten” filled biscuit:

Bake for 25 minutes – very important: do not open the oven.

Once out of the oven, brush lightly with butter. Allow to cool for 5 minutes then serve, dive in, mow down – you will love it. We sure did!

This is the first recipe I have made from Chef Lynn’s “Pitchin In”. I can’t wait for more. I would love to get into the kitchen and cook with Chef Lynn…although, I think she might give me the “boot” for laughing too hard….